PHOTOS: Did Steve Jobs Study Star Trek?

Many of the key technologies of our modern world were inspired by the TV Show Star Trek. For 40 years the world's top inventors have been laboring to bring to life the dream gadgets they first saw on their favorite TV show.PHOTO EDIT INTERNATIONAL

The Star Trek "Communicator" allowed Captain Kirk to stay in touch with his crew while exploring alien worlds. The inventor of the cellular phone was inspired by seeing the Communicator in action.PHOTO EDIT INTERNATIONAL

The cellular phone was inspired by the Star Trek "Communicator." The two devices are almost identical and both even flip open to talk.PHOTO EDIT INTERNATIONAL

In today's world talking on the go seems normal, but back in the early 60s when Star Trek was first aired, all phones worked only with cords.PHOTO EDIT INTERNATIONAL

Martin Cooper, the inventor of the world's first cellular phone, the Motorola Dyna-Tac, first had the idea from watching Captain Kirk talk over his Communicator. PHOTO EDIT INTERNATIONAL

Before Star Trek, computers were massive machines taking up whole rooms. But the crew of the Star Trek Enterprise had small useful computers that could be carried around with them. This "Tricorder" inspired the inventors of the personal computer and the Palm Pilot.PHOTO EDIT INTERNATIONAL

The world's first personal computer, The Altair 8800, was named after a fictional galaxy mentioned on Star Trek by the computers inventor, a die hard fan. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates wrote the first software on this computer, bringing in the Computer Age.PHOTO EDIT INTERNATIONAL

The designer of the Palm Pilot, Rob Haitani, says he used the bridge of the Starship Enterprise as his inspiration.PHOTO EDIT INTERNATIONAL

Star Trek offered an exciting future for the medical profession where energy instead of scalpels healed the sick. PHOTO EDIT INTERNATIONAL

Star Trek's vision of diagnosis without painful exploratory surgery planted the seeds for the invention of medical imaging technology like the MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging).PHOTO EDIT INTERNATIONAL

The Enterprise's beloved Chief Engineer, Scotty, inspired a whole generation to enter the space program and become the engineers and scientists who went on to build the Space Shuttle, Earth's first real life space ship.PHOTO EDIT INTERNATIONAL

Dr. Marc D. Rayman, Chief Engineer of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, says Star Trek inspired him to become an engineer and seek a career at NASA. This brilliant scientist has memorized almost all the lines of his childhood hero, Scotty.PHOTO EDIT INTERNATIONAL

The sexy and sharp communications officer of the Enterprise, Lieutenant Uhura offered young black girls growing up in the racially divided America of the 1960s a vision of a brighter future and helped inspire them to build it.PHOTO EDIT INTERNATIONAL

Mae Jemison was inspired by her childhood hero, Lieutenant Uhura, to become an engineer and astronaut. The show’s optimistic vision of the future provided the fuel that inspired Mae Jemison to earn a PhD and eventually lifted her all the way into space aboard the shuttle Endeavor. PHOTO EDIT INTERNATIONAL

Star Trek made history in 1968 when black Lieutenant Uhura and white Captain Kirk shared the first interracial kiss ever seen on television.PHOTO EDIT INTERNATIONAL

In addition to visions of advanced technology, Star Trek displayed a dizzying array of aliens. One of the most terrifying is "The Borg," displayed here. The Borg merged tissue and technology and some Earthlings think it is a great idea.PHOTO EDIT INTERNATIONAL

This young disciple of the "Cyborg Movement" believes that merging man and machinery is the next step in Human Evolution. Notice the eerie similarity to The Borg.PHOTO EDIT INTERNATIONAL

Dr. Seth Shostak is the Chief Astronomer for SETI, the Search for Exter Terrestrial Life project. Shostak first became interested in finding aliens by watching Star Trek and attributes the show to his choice in career.PHOTO EDIT INTERNATIONAL

SETI scientists scan deep space with huge Radio Telescopes in the hopes of picking up a signal from an alien civilization light years away. The NASA started project was first met by skepticism until Star Trek made aliens seem more plausible to the public.PHOTO EDIT INTERNATIONAL

Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, used the show to offer an optimistic vision of mankind's future where greed, hate, bigotry and hunger were all solved. In recognition for his role in inspiring the space program, NASA launched his ashes into space after his death in 1991.PHOTO EDIT INTERNATIONAL

The dashing Captain Kirk played by actor William Shatner became the face of the allure of space, The Final Frontier.PHOTO EDIT INTERNATIONAL

The Star Trek crew was carried to distant galaxies aboard the Starship Enterprise which could travel faster than the speed of light.PHOTO EDIT INTERNATIONAL

NASA's first Space Shuttle was named "Enterprise" after the fictional spaceship that helped inspire its designers.PHOTO EDIT INTERNATIONAL

Star Trek has helped inspire 40 years of technological innovation, and every day we draw closer to Star Trek's vision. This TV show has helped map what the world of tomorrow will look like today.PHOTO EDIT INTERNATIONAL